by chiggerbit » Sun Jan 01, 2006 2:48 pm
Do you think the decline in vitamin and mineral content in vegetables has anything to do with farm chemicals? Or maybe with genetic modification?<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.soilandhealth.org/06clipfile/0601.LEMag/LE%20Magazine%2C%20March%202001%20-%20Report%20Vegetables%20Without%20Vitamins.htm">www.soilandhealth.org/06c...tamins.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br>clip<br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><br>Imagine the surprise of going online and discovering that the vitamin and mineral content of vegetables has drastically dropped. <br><br>That’s what happened to nutritionist, Alex Jack, when he went to check out the latest US Department of Agriculture food tables. The stunning revelation came after Jack compared recently published nutrient values with an old USDA handbook he had lying around. Some of the differences in vitamin and mineral content were enormous-a 50% drop in the amount of calcium in broccoli, for example. Watercress down 88% in iron content; cauliflower down 40% in vitamin C content-all since 1975.<br><br>Jack took his findings to the USDA, hoping for a reasonable explanation. That was two years ago. He’s still waiting. So is Organic Gardening magazine, which published an open letter, seeking an explanation from Dan Glickman, Secretary of Agriculture. Glickman didn’t respond, but USDA employee, Phyllis E. Johnson did. Johnson (who is head of the Beltsville area office), suggested to Organic Gardening that the nutrient drain should be put in context. According to her, the 78% decrease in calcium content of corn is not significant because no one eats corn for <br>calcium. She further explains that the problem may not even exist at all; that the apparent nutrient dips could be due to the testing procedures. For example, “changes in the public’s perception of what the edible portion is may determine what parts have been analyzed over time.” In other words, back when the old food tables were made up, people may have been eating the cobb too, so they got more nutrients.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br> <p></p><i></i>